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CRUISING IN THE 
WEST INDIES 



\ 



CRUISING IN THE 
WEST INDIES, 



BY 

ANSON PHELPS STOKES 

FORMERLY VICE-COMMODORE OF THE NEW YORK YACHT CLUB 



NEW YORK 
DODD, MEAD & CO. 

1902 




Copyright, 1902, by 
Anson Phelps Stokes 

Published, July, igo2 



THE DE VINNE PRESS 






At a meeting of the New York Yacht Club, held 
at the Club House, May 15, 1902, ex- Vice-Com- 
modore Anson Phelps Stokes made the following 
motion : 

Resolved, that a committee be appointed, by the 
Commodore, to consider the question of a squad- 
ron cruise in the West Indies next winter, and 
to report at the October meeting. 

Several members spoke in favor and none op- 
posed, and the motion was carried unanimously. 



ADDRESS 

AT THE NEW YORK YACHT CLUB REPORTING 

THE CRUISE OF THE SCHOONER YACHT 

SEA FOX TO THE WEST INDIES 

AND ADVOCATING A 

SQUADRON CRUISE 

THERE 



ADDRESS OF ANSON PHELPS STOKES 

IN THE NEW YORK YACHT CLUB, MAY 15, 1902, 

ON HIS MOTION FOR A COMMITTEE TO 

CONSIDER THE QUESTION OF A 

SQUADRON CRUISE TO THE 

WEST INDIES NEXT 

WINTER 

Commodore: 

I have lately returned from a West Indian cruise 
in my yacht, the Sea Fox. 

The terrible disaster which has overwhelmed, 
within the last few days, the beautiful and fertile 
islands of Martinique and St. Vincent has startled 
the world. While rejoicing at the prompt and 
efficient efforts to relieve present distress there, let 
us remember, also, that for their permanent pros- 
perity the lovely Carib Islands have the utmost 
need of greater intercourse with the United States. 
This more neighborly intercourse our club can pro- 
mote to the benefit of all concerned. 

The unequaled advantages for winter cruising 
afforded by the eastern part of the Caribbean Sea, 
from Porto Rico to Trinidad, have led me to sug- 



gest a squadron cruise there, and to prepare a few 
short notes for the use of such of my fellow- 
members as may think of sailing in those waters 
for the first time. 

I had considerable previous yachting experience 
at home and abroad. When I owned the Clytie, 
I took her, in 1880, to Bermuda. I have yachted 
in English waters and among the isles of Greece, 
and last year I went, in the Mermaid, to and among 
the Bahamas for about two months. 

But when I tried to plan a West Indian cruise, 
I found much study was required to obtain the 
necessary information. 

Many books have been written about the West 
Indies by literary and scientific men, by newspaper 
correspondents, and by tourists. But the precise 
information needed by yachtsmen is as different 
from that required by tourists as the charm of these 
lovely shores seen from a yacht is different from 
the very inadequate idea of their beauty obtained 
from the crowded deck of a steamer, which hurries 
along at a distance, enters few of the most inter- 
esting bays, and passes much of the finest scenery 
during the night. 

However, the experience I gained as a tourist 
in West Indian waters three years ago was of use 
in planning for yachting there. 

ID 



Recent events have led to largely increased 
American interest in these islands and in their 
future. 

The great variety found in the appearance and 
condition of the inhabitants, the various systems 
of land ownership and of labor, some islands be- 
ing cultivated by a few individuals or companies, 
some having peasant proprietors or systems of 
sharing, some Hindu and Chinese labor, some per- 
mitting squatting on crown lands, some having 
public sugar-factories established by the govern- 
ment or by European corporations, the general de- 
cay caused by want of commercial intercourse with 
the United States and with each other, the differ- 
ent colonial systems of the nations owning the 
islands, the tariff, sugar, and negro questions, all 
these present an important study for Americans 
who are now called upon to consider colonial 
problems. 

It is only by actual visits that the real conditions 
in the Virgin, Leeward, and Windward Islands 
can be understood. Yachts are the best means for 
visiting these islands, and we have, in the north- 
eastern and eastern parts of the Caribbean Sea, in- 
comparably the best waters for our winter yachting. 

If I can contribute a little to facilitate plans for 
yachting there, I feel it a duty that I owe to the 

II 



New York Yacht Club, which has twice done me 
the honor of electing me its vice-commodore. 



CONDITIONS TO BE CONSIDERED 

In the first place, a large and expensive steam 
yacht is not required in and about the Caribbean 
Sea, the trade-winds being all-sufficient. In forty- 
four days from Trinidad, through the islands to 
Cuba, we had only two calm days, and even in these 
days there were hours when we made good prog- 
ress. It is, however, often nearly calm at night. 
Sheltered harbors abound. 

During February, March, and April the trades 
blow steadily almost every day from an easterly 
direction, mostly north of east above Barbados, 
and south of east between Barbados and Trinidad. 
There are no hurricanes in the West Indies during 
these the best months for cruising there, and no 
northers in the eastern part of the Caribbean Sea. 

The words Leeward, applied to those islands 
above fifteen degrees north latitude, and Wind- 
ward, applied to those below fifteen degrees north 
latitude, are misleading. All the islands east and 
northeast of the Caribbean Sea ought to be called 
Windward Islands. 

12 



The principal islands between the Virgins and 
Grenada are generally about thirty miles apart. 
There are many smaller ones also well worth 
visiting. 

All the way from Porto Rico to the Orinoco a 
good sailing yacht, sixty to one hundred feet on 
water-line, is sufficient for comfort, and, to my 
mind, far superior to a steam yacht for the enjoy- 
ment of these waters. 

Yachts much smaller than sixty feet water-line 
can be used there with entire safety during Feb- 
ruary, March, and April. Many native open dug- 
outs are met five to ten miles from shore fishing for 
flying-fish. 



PLAN OF CRUISE 

A plan of cruise is necessary to those who have 
limited time, and who wish to use the time to best 
advantage. 

Unless such a plan is decided upon in advance, 
it is not easy for owners and guests to arrange for 
letters from home. 

In planning a cruise, the first thing is to get a 
copy of Navy Department Publication No. S6, 
"The Navigation of the Gulf of Mexico and Carib- 

13 



bean Sea/' vol. i. This furnishes, among much 
else that is important, a list of charts required. 

I will give, later, a list of some other books that 
may be found useful. 

Most of our members have engagements at home 
during the early part of January. Many are glad 
to be away February and March, and unable to be 
absent longer than sixty to one hundred days. 

One hundred days are sufficient to visit, in a 
sailing yacht, Bermuda, Barbados, Tobago, Trini- 
dad, and all the most interesting islands between 
Trinidad and St. Thomas, to see St. Thomas and 
some of the ports of Porto Rico, Hayti, Jamaica, 
and Cuba, and to return to New York from a 
Florida or other southern United States port. By 
hurrying, all this can be done in ninety days. 



FOR A SIXTY days' CRUISE IN A SAILING YACHT 

Those who do not wish to be absent from New 
York more than about sixty days, I should advise 
to send their yachts to St. Thomas, and that out- 
side scraping, varnishing, and painting, etc., be 
done there. It is cold, slow, and expensive doing 
outside work on yachts in New York in January, 

14 



and boats and upper works get messed up a lot 
going from New York to the Caribbean Sea. 

There are good faciHties for hauling, etc., at 
St. Thomas, a dry-dock, and a marine railway. 
Owners and guests can go there by steamer. More 
steamers may soon be put on, and some of the 
tourist steamers may be found available. A num- 
ber of steamers are advertised "to call at St. 
Thomas if required." St. Thomas is now reported 
to be a very healthy port, a short canal having 
been cut to cause a circulation of water through 
the harbor. 

Before definitely deciding upon a plan of cruise, 
careful inquiry should be made at the offices of the 
various West Indian steamship companies as to 
the steamers that may be sailing to the various 
ports. It is possible that great changes may be 
made in this service. 

Barbados lies so far to the eastward that it can- 
not be reached from the nearest part of the Carib- 
bean Sea without nearly one hundred miles of 
windward work against the current. 

Antigua is not as interesting as many of the 
other islands. 

So those who wish to be absent from New York 
only sixty days had best, I think, join their yachts 
at St. Thomas and omit Barbados and Antigua. 

15 



It would be a pity to omit Tobago, as this is 
one of the most strikingly romantic-looking of all, 
and, according to most of the later authorities, it 
is the scene of "Robinson Crusoe." And it can 
usually be reached from Grenada without wind- 
ward work. 

By omitting Bermuda, Barbados, Tobago, Trini- 
dad, and St. Croix, and going to St. Thomas by 
steamer and returning thence or from San Juan 
by steamer, it is possible to visit the Virgins and 
Leeward and Windward Islands in six weeks, 
from the time of leaving New York to the time 
of return to New York, if there be no delay wait- 
ing for steamer. 

I would advise those who have only sixty days 
to be absent from New York to arrange to have 
their yachts ready in good time, and to sail from 
St. Thomas by February i. Then, for a day or 
two, to beat to windward among the smooth sounds 
and lovely bays of the Virgin Islands, while guests 
are getting a pleasant "notion of the motion of the 
ocean" in a yacht, and then to sail, inside of the 
Leeward and Windward Islands and without many 
stoppages, to Trinidad. It is better to be at the 
most southern port in the cooler weather, and it 
is best to visit most of the islands while sailing 
toward the north, for the wind is more favorable 

i6 



if we continue on to St. Croix, etc., and in sailing 
near the beautiful shores, as one wants to do in 
visiting the Caribbean Islands, it is safer to have 
the sun at one's back, so that the color of the 
water can be distinctly seen, and reefs and coral- 
heads avoided. 

If Tobago be visited, this should be on the way 
south, for it would be very slow sailing easterly 
along the north coast of Trinidad against wind 
and strong current. 



CRUISE OF THE SEA FOX 

I left New York, January 24, 1902, by train, 
and joined, at Charleston, South Carolina, my 
yacht, the schooner Sea Fox (961^5^ net tons, 89 
feet 5 inches water-line, 115 feet over all, and 11 
feet draught, yacht measurement, but drawing 
nearly 12 feet with her extra cruising stores, boats, 
fittings, and ice, coal, water, etc.). 

We sailed from Charleston January 26, arrived 
Bermuda January 31, left there February 6, and 
arrived Barbados February 14; left there Feb- 
ruary 18, arrived Tobago February 19, and at 
Port of Spain, Trinidad, February 21; visited the 

17 



principal islands between Trinidad and St. Thomas, 
including Grenada, Cariacou, St. Vincent, St. 
Lucia, Martinique, Les Saints, Dominica, Grande 
Terre, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Antigua, Nevis, 
St. Kitts, St. Eustatius, Saba, St. Croix, and St. 
John; sailed April 4 from St. Thomas, via Cule- 
bra, for San Juan, Porto Rico, where we arrived 
April 5 ; left San Juan April 7, and sailed along the 
northern coasts of Porto Rico and Hayti to the 
eastern end of Cuba, then by the western coasts 
of Great Inagua, Acklin, and Crooked Islands, and 
past Long, Exuma, Rum, Watlings, Cat, Eleu- 
thera, and other islands to Nassau, where we ar- 
rived early April 14; and, sailing at 4 p.m. the 
same day, arrived at Fernandina, Florida, April 
18, and at New York, by train, April 20 — eighty- 
six days from the time I left home. 

We could have been back sooner by going from 
San Juan to Charleston, for there is little doubt 
we would have had the trades as far north as 
about twenty-five degrees north latitude. But we 
wanted to see the other islands, and were delayed 
by calms and contrary winds off the Florida coast, 
where winds are commonly uncertain. We did 
not hurry very much, but stopped to dine at gov- 
ernment houses, and to entertain on board yacht, 
etc. 

18 



THE ITINERARY 

I have prepared an itinerary arranged for those 
owners of sailing yachts who may wish to be ab- 
sent from New York only sixty days. Most of 
this itinerary may be used, with the added notes, 
by those who, having more time, may wish to in- 
clude in their cruise Bermuda, Barbados, Antigua, 
and southern shores of Porto Rico, Hayti, Ja- 
maica, and Cuba and the city of Havana. 

The itinerary, it will be seen, allows five days 
for steamer from New York to St. Thomas, forty- 
three days among the islands, and twelve days 
for sailing and training from St. Thomas, or from 
San Juan, Porto Rico, to New York, via Charles- 
ton, South Carolina, or via Nassau and Florida, or 
along the northern coasts of Porto Rico, Hayti, 
and Cuba, etc. These coasts are very interesting.^ 
On the other hand, there is a certain exhilaration 
and monarch-of-all-you-survey feeling in yachting 
far away from land. 

^Matanzas is a charming, healthy port, with clean water, 
lovely scenery, and a railway to Havana. At Havana, as at 
Santiago and other ports on south of Cuba, the water in the 
harbors is very vile, and will probably so continue until 
canals are cut as at St. Thomas. 

19 



NOTES 

I add a few notes regarding particulars to be 
considered in planning a cruise in a sailing yacht 
through the eastern part of the Caribbean, and 
some matters observed there, and a short mention 
of yachting in Grecian waters and in England; 
also some sailing reminiscences, and thoughts of 
the future of the West Indian islands. 



WINTER CRUISING 

Among the considerations that appeal to me in 
favor of winter yachting in the eastern part of 
the Caribbean is that old and even infirm yachts- 
men can there enjoy outdoor life with great com- 
fort in a delightful and healthy climate, with fine 
steady sailing breezes six days out of seven, quiet 
anchorages, regular exercise, inland excursions 
over good roads, evening launch cruises about har- 
bors of wonderful beauty and along coral sand 
beaches, on which palms grow, while above are 
seen bold cliffs, the greenest of fields, and lofty 

20 



wood-covered mountains. One meets interesting 
people at government houses/ at messes, clubs, 
and on board men-of-war, and learns facts about 
colonial problems, while avoiding snow, blizzards, 
and influenza. Now that the old difficulty about 
ice is done away with by the general introduc- 
tion of ice-plants, one can always have good food 
on a yacht in these waters. 

I do not doubt that a few months' yachting in 
the tropics would generally benefit most old yachts- 
men.2 

The eastern part of the Caribbean Sea is an 
excellent place for young yachtsmen to get the 
training necessary to make them useful if called 
upon to defend their country in the navy reserve 

^ The hospitality, grace, and charm found in the govern- 
ment houses of British colonies, as in the homes of Eng- 
land, are celebrated throughout the world, and beyond ade- 
quate expression by any words at my command. In the 
present terrible disaster, it is fortunate for the islands that 
there are in government houses at St. Vincent, St. Lucia, 
Trinidad, etc., those well fitted to meet the emergency, yet 
it is sad to think what dangers and sufferings are threaten- 
ing friends there. 

^ I ought perhaps to mention that when I left home I was 
suffering from traumatic neuralgia, following the loss of my 
left leg — the result of my horse bolting and crushing my 
leg against a tree in 1899. The neuralgia soon mostly passed 
away on the yacht, I obtained sufficient sleep, and the mild 
exercise at the wheel was beneficial. 

21 



or in the navy. We may sometime need a large 
navy reserve mosquito fleet in that neighborhood. 
It is possible that some who have been in the 
habit of spending summer months floating about 
in palaces on our smooth sounds and bays might, 
by a cruise in the West Indies, be led to take an 
interest in real yachting, 



A NEW YORK YACHT CLUB SQUADRON CRUISE 
IN THE WEST INDIES 

It would be an interesting and a sporting thing 
for the New York Yacht Club to arrange a West 
Indian cruise for next winter with a squadron of 
yachts, the flag-ship carrying a surgeon. 

I think that if the club would decide upon this, 
and upon a regular plan of cruise, so many yachts 
would agree to join that it might be found best 
to have along a tug fitted with an ice-plant, and 
that could go ahead at night with a clerk who 
could collect milk, fresh fruits and vegetables, ar- 
range for horses and for distribution of mails, 
telegrams, local newspapers, and the daily news 
reports which are posted in the telegraph offices. 
These matters cause much delay. 

22 



When the great tourist steamers visit some of 
the West Indian ports, the day being known ahead, 
private carriages are collected for hire on that day, 
and much fruit and vegetables for sale. 



THE SEAL OF THE NEW YORK YACHT CLUB 

The seal of our club represents yachts boldly 
beating out of harbor into a sea beyond which no 
land is to be seen. Our motto declares that we 
are driven with swelling sails — Nos agimur tumi- 
dis veils} Let us not change this for the motto, 
We steam over smoothest waters. 

^ The motto on our seal, excepting the change of the first 
word, appears to have been taken from the Epistles of Hor- 
ace, book 2, epistle 2, verse 201 : 

Pauperies immunda tamen procul absit, ego utrum 
Nave ferar magna an parva, ferar unus et idem. 
Non agimur tumidis velis Aquilone secundo, 
Non tamen adversis aetatem ducimus Austris, 
Viribus, ingenio, specie, virtute, loco, re 
Extremi primorum, extremis usque priores. 



23 



ITINERARY 



ITINERARY 

FOR A SAILING YACHT CRUISE THROUGH THE 

EASTERN PART OF THE CARIBBEAN 

SEA, ETC., WITH ONLY SIXTY DAYS' 

ABSENCE FROM NEW YORK 

Days 

1-5 Steamer to St. Thomas. 

6 At St. Thomas. Get full supplies of ice and 

coal (hard coal if possible), and sail to 
some near-by port in the Virgin Islands. 

7 Beat to windward among smooth sounds, etc., 

of Virgin Islands. 

8 To St. Martin (if wind be favorable). This 

island belongs part to France and part to 
Holland. 

9 To St. Kitts, passing near Saba and St. Eus- 

tatius. 

27 



Days 

10 To Les Saints French Naval Station. Fine 

harbor, lovely scenery. De Grasse was de- 
feated by Rodney off these islands, April 
12, 1782. The severest battle in English 
naval records. 

11 To St. Pierre, Martinique. Before the ter- 

rible eruption of May 8, 1902, this was a 
very interesting old French town. There 
was a fine drive from St. Pierre to Fort 
de France, and it was best to take this drive 
going south, for better horses could be got 
at St. Pierre. Full particulars regarding 
this eruption and its results have not yet 
been received. Some changes may be found 
necessary in plan of visit to Martinique, etc. 
(See pages 31 and 32.) 

12 To Kingstown, St. Vincent. Perfect harbor. 

Charming scenery. 

13 To St. George, Grenada. A most lovely is- 

land. 

14 To Tobago. Robinson Crusoe's Island. 

15 At Tobago. See Man-of-War Bay and Ply- 

mouth Harbor, and drive or ride across 
island to Scarborough. 

16 To Port of Spain, Trinidad. 

17-19 At Trinidad. Only seven miles from the 
mountainous coast of South America. 
28 



Days 

A most interesting island of 
peasant proprietors. No sugar 
grown, but much fruit, etc. 
The finest oranges I have ever 
seen. The views from the 

20 To Grenada. / south veranda of the Govern- 

21 At Grenada. \ ment House are wonderfully 
fine. On the east is the beau- 
tiful Vale of Tempe, south are 
the mountains, and west the 
lovely harbor. Drive or ride 
to Grande Etang. 

22 To Cariacou, going near other Grenadines. 

23 Among Grenadines, and to Kingstown, St. 

Vincent. 

24 At St. Vincent. Order horses by telephone, 

from Kingstown, to meet you at Chateau 
Belair next morning. 

25 Start early, sail to Chateau Belair, ascend to 

the Soufriere crater, and sail for Castries, 
St. Lucia. 

26 Arrive Castries; anchor to windward of hos- 

pital, which is below old Government 
House. Avoid neighborhood of coal docks, 
sewers, abattoirs, and swamp. Visit the re- 
markable new fortifications, etc., so far as 
you can obtain permits. Castries is a dirty 
29 



Days 

town, and this is one of the very few ports 
where you may find mosquitos.^ It is ne- 
cessary to enter at Castries before going to 
Port Soufriere, St. Lucia. Order by tele- 
phone horses to meet you next day at Sou- 
friere. 
27 Sail to Port Soufriere. Get line to shore; no 
good anchorage. Ride or drive to old sul- 
phur works, getting grand views of Pitons, 
etc. It is said that the sulphur works were 
closed by an export tax to prevent laborers 
from being attracted away from sugar plan- 
tations.^ Go in launch about the Pitons. 

^ Castries may be improved by a canal and by filling in 
swamp, through which a wide road has been made. Most 
small vessels anchor to leeward of the large coal docks, 
where the water is vile and the coal dust annoying. I an- 
chored first to windward of these docks, but found bad 
smell from sewers at low tide, and so crossed over to near 
the small coal dock, which was not being used. A little 
change in the wind brought mosquitos from the swamp, so 
I crossed to south side of harbor and anchored to windward 
of hospital under old Government House and inside the 
steamer buoy, to which an English man-of-war soon after 
made fast, and we had to carry an anchor near to the shore. 

^ In 1836 two gentlemen of Antigua, Mr. Bennett and Mr. 
Wood, set up sulphur works at the Soufriere of St. Lucia 
and began prosperously enough, exporting five hundred and 
forty tons the first year. But in 1840 the sugar growers 
took the alarm, and at their instigation the legislative coun- 

30 



Days 

These stupendous rocks, nearly three thou- 
sand feet, deserve much attention from 
every direction. 

28 Sail close by Diamond Rock to Fort de 

France (Fort Royal), Martinique. Birth- 
place of Josephine and of Madame de Main- 
tenon. Scene of "Paul et Virginie." Dia- 
mond Rock, from January, 1804, until 
June, 1805, was held by the British. It 
was rated as a war vessel on the Admiralty 
books, and did great injury to the French 
until it had to surrender for want of pow- 
der.^ It is six hundred feet high, one mile 
round, and one mile from the French island 
of Martinique. 

29 At Fort de France. Station and dock-yards 

for French steamers, etc. There is a dry- 
dock here. 

30 To St. Pierre, Martinique. See remarkable 

Jardin des Plantes — if the eruption has not 
destroyed it — and drive to Morne Rouge 
and to Morne Pelee. 

cil imposed a tax of i6.y. sterling on every ton of sulphur 
exported from the colony. Messrs. Bennett and Wood, after 
having incurred a heavy loss of time and treasure, had to 
break up their establishment and retire from the colony. 
Breen's "St. Lucia." 
^ "Naval Chronicles," vol. xii, p. 206. 

31 



Days 

31 At St. Pierre. Drive about harbor, etc., and 

to Hot Springs, and go about harbor in 
launch. 

32 To Roseau, Dominica. This is perhaps the 

most beautiful of these islands. Mount 
Diabloten, over five thousand feet. Ride 
to Boiling Lake, etc., and sail to Ports- 
mouth, which is a quieter anchorage than 
Roseau. There are no public carriages in 
Dominica. I got a private carriage at Ro- 
seau. Road extends only about five miles. 
Some few hundred Caribs still on the island. 

33 To Marie Galante, and sail to Pointe a Pitre 

on Grande Terre, the eastern and low half 
of the twin islands called Guadeloupe. 

34 Take automobile tour around Grande Terre, 

and go in launch through Riviere Salee, 
which divides the two islands of Guade- 
loupe. See great sugar factory. The con- 
sul should be informed some days ahead, 
and asked to secure automobile. There are 
only two now in Guadeloupe, but several 
more may probably be there soon. May be 
able to get naphtha there for launch; in- 
quire of consul and automobile people. 
Probably safer to have naphtha sent from 
New York in good time. 
32 



Days 

3S To Basse Terre, Guadeloupe. Note the very 
beautiful scenery of Guadeloupe, and the 
waterfall that appears to come out of the 
clouds. No quiet anchorage anywhere on 
the west side of Guadeloupe. I had a slip- 
line to steamer buoy, but this might not be 
permitted if a steamer were arriving. Take 
automobile drive. Sail to Montserrat. 

.36 Arrive Montserrat, and sail 

To Nevis, where Hamilton was born, and 
where Nelson was married, the Duke of 
Clarence, who was afterward King Wil- 
liam the Fourth, being his best man. The 
fashionable watering-place of the West In- 
dies, in the days when sugar was king. See 
ruins of great stone hotel; cost $200,000, 
and sold for $200. 

37 To St. Kitts. Get green peas, melons, best 
sweet potatoes, guinea fowl, etc. 

.38 To Eustatius. Much market produce ex- 
ported from this island. 

39 To Saba; anchor close under cliff, and go up 

steps to town of Bottom, i960 feet. Get 
fresh vegetables here. Sail for St. Croix, 
better known to some yachtsmen by its old 
and fragrant name, Santa Cruz. 

40 Arrive at Fredericksted or at Christiansted, 

33 



Days 

whichever harbor the wind best suits. 
Fredericksted is a fine open roadstead. 
Christiansted is a land-locked harbor, with 
narrow, crooked entrance, and pilot may 
not come out in case of much sea. 

41 Drive across island. Great sugar plantations, 

rich soil, etc. It is said that one third of 
the sugar-cane land belongs to a citizen of 
the United States. 

42 To St. John Island. Visit Coral Bay and 

some other port in the Virgins not visited 
on way south. 

43 To St. Thomas. 

44 At St. Thomas. 

45 To mouth of Culebra harbor, and to San 

Juan, Porto Rico. Many beautiful islands 
seen on the way. 
(Or, on days 42-45 sail from St. Croix to 
Culebra and to San Juan, Porto Rico. Cross 
the island to Ponce. Automobile diligences 
are at present running daily. A railway 
will soon be completed. ) 

46 At San Juan. Grand old forts. Pleasant 

country club, with fine surf bathing. 

47 Sail for the United States direct, or by one 

of the other routes before mentioned. 

34 



Days 

48 Allow a day for some unknown delays.^ 
60 Arrive New York; or perhaps sooner if you 
sail direct to Fernandina or Charleston 
from St. Thomas or San Juan. 

* In case of unexpected delaj'-, a day or two may be 
economized by sailing at night. 



35 



NOTES 

OF SOME PARTICULARS TO BE CONSIDERED 

IN PLANNING A SAILING YACHT 

CRUISE IN THE WEST 

INDIES, ETC. 



NOTES 

OF SOME PARTICULARS TO BE CONSIDERED 

IN PLANNING A SAILING YACHT 

CRUISE IN THE WEST 

INDIES, ETC. 

Spars, Sails, Etc. For the benefit of those mem- 
bers of our club who have not done much ocean 
cruising, I may be permitted to mention that as 
yachts have to sail through rough weather in 
going from New York to the West Indies, and 
as strong puffs of wind come down from the 
steep sides of the islands, and as there are, occa- 
sionally, severe squalls, bowsprit, main boom, 
and topmasts should be shortened, and good 
cruising sails should be carried. The mainsail 
ought to be cut high in the clue. Remember that 
new sails will stretch greatly in continuous 
warm, dry weather. A storm trysail should be 
taken. 

Moderate sails should be provided for the cut- 
ter, as with the constant trades this can be used 
much in the harbors. 

39 



A small awning, say about eight feet by four- 
teen feet, to be used on either side of yacht while 
sailing, is very useful. It should be of stout can- 
vas, thoroughly well roped, etc., and lined with 
thin blue canvas. The sky there is commonly 
partly overcast, and there are almost every day 
short, light showers. But the sun often shines 
very strongly for hours at a time. 

Anchors, Etc. It is important to have good and 
sufficient ground tackle. Pretty little brass- 
mounted capstans will not be sufficient. Re- 
member that coral often presents foul bottom, 
that many old anchors have been abandoned in 
harbors during the hurricane season, that moor- 
ing buoys for steamers often have heavy chains 
from moorings to the shore, and that your an- 
chor may get caught on these. As the bottom 
often runs down very suddenly, it is sometimes 
necessary to have a line to a tree ashore to keep 
anchor from slipping off the bank. 

Sailing. In sailing over shoals marked three to 
four fathoms, have an experienced man in for- 
ward rigging to look out for coral-heads, etc., 
which may not have been noticed by hydrograph- 
ers some years before. 

Always remember that not only are the winds 
from the eastward, but the current also gener- 
40 



ally runs toward the west, so that to sail from 
San Juan to St. Thomas, or from the Caribbean 
Sea to Barbados, would probably be very slow 
work. 

Many wrecks have occurred on the windward 
sides of the Bahamas and other islands from 
failure to make sufficient allowance for the wes- 
terly current, which sometimes increases sud- 
denly on account of atmospheric changes. 
Supplies. As some yachtsmen are not like Dib- 
din's mariners — 

The sailors, the sailors, 

Whose home is on the seas, 

Who make the wars 

And keep the laws 

And live on yellow peas — 

it is necessary to give considerable attention to 
the subject of supplies. 

Ice is commonly obtainable at most of the 
islands, but some of the factories will not fur- 
nish more than half a ton without notice. At 
some few ports schooners from Maine are some- 
times found, and sell cheaper than the factories. 
We found an ice schooner at St. Thomas. 

Water is said to be good at Barbados, Trini- 
dad, and St. Thomas, and is delivered from 
water-boats with pumps. Water is probably 
41 



good at many other places. (Consult Navy De- 
partment Publication No. 86.) Where water 
is delivered in puncheons, examine each punch- 
eon carefully to see that the water is clear and 
free from the smell of rum, which smell will 
stay long in yacht tanks. I would not take 
water at Antigua or at St. Lucia. 

Vegetables, Fowl, Etc. Chickens are ob- 
tainable at almost all the islands; ducks and 
meat at many. Eggs, milk, fish, and common 
fruits and vegetables are generally obtainable, 
and commonly offered for sale by boats coming 
alongside. Nice green peas, string beans, as- 
paragus, tomatoes, melons, flowers, etc., are sel- 
dom offered by boats or in the markets, but can 
sometimes be obtained from farmers and others 
living a few miles from the ports. It is some- 
times worth while for owners, when driving, to 
make inquiries and to secure these. At St. Kitts, 
Saba, St. Eustatius, etc., there are market gar- 
dens. At Montserrat and at some other islands 
market gardens are being established. Inquire 
at the Botanical Gardens.^ Women are seen in 

^ Charitable efforts are being made to induce poor people 
to raise fine vegetables for sale. At one island, not named 
here, a lady told me that she was much pleased at the suc- 
cess of the little garden belonging to a negro, and that 

42 



some of the islands carrying on their heads fine 
melons and other fruits to sell at the ports to 
the families that they know will buy. West 
Indian watermelons are particularly good, al- 
though they look like green pumpkins. There 
are fine vegetable farms at Nassau, fifteen miles 
or so from the port, and from one of these vege- 
tables are sent in on Tuesdays and Saturdays to 
parties that order them. Inquire of consul. 
Game birds may sometimes be found. Venison 
may be had at Trinidad and St. Croix; turtle 
at Trinidad and at some other islands. 

It is not fair to blame stewards for not al- 
ways getting the best fresh provisions, for usu- 
ally they have not time to look them up. 

At Bermuda I saw the very finest potatoes 
being dug in the fields, while those offered in 
the market were inferior. I asked one woman, 
who tried to sell poor bananas at the yacht 
side, why she did not bring good ones, and she 
said the steamer had taken all the good ones 
the day before. 

At Montserrat I asked at a leading shop for 
new potatoes, and they had only old potatoes, 

upon congratulating him he replied, "Ain't gwine to raise no 
mo' vegetables, cos dey steals 'em. I 's gwine to steal vege- 
tables next year." 

43 



but said they had fine new ones if I would wait 
for them to send two miles into the interior. 
Trying to buy some Spanish onions in the mar- 
ket, I had to wait a long time to have them 
weighed at the public scales, apparently the only 
scales there. 

I mention these details to show that to get the 
best fresh food often requires considerable time 
in the West Indies. 

Naphtha will be largely used. It is not 
lawful cargo for passenger vessels, and cannot 
be obtained at present in English ports among 
the islands. I found it only at Pointe a Pitre 
and Basse Terre, Guadeloupe, and at San 
Juan, Porto Rico. At these places automobiles 
are used, and their use will probably increase. 
I was just too late to buy any naphtha at Pointe 
a Pitre, and could get only twenty gallons at 
Basse Terre. This was furnished by M. Ance- 
lin, who has an automobile for rent, and is try- 
ing to obtain a government subsidy for the es- 
tablishment of automobile diligences. It would 
be well to inquire of M. Ancelin or of the United 
States consul at Pointe a Pitre some time be- 
fore leaving New York, or, better, to have 
naphtha shipped from New York to Pointe a 
Pitre in good time. 

44 



Coal. At most places only soft coal is ob- 
tainable. 
Deck Chairs, Etc. The old-fashioned split- 
bamboo Madeira chairs, with brass hooks for 
back and with leg supports that slide under, are 
the best. They are light, fit the deck with all 
feet, and fold up in small space. Ordinary bam- 
boo arm-chairs, not too large, are also useful. 
But the common steamer chairs get in the way, 
and injure teak and mahogany on deck and in 
chart-room, etc. Often only three of the legs 
touch the deck at the same time. Thus they walk 
about the deck of a sailing yacht at sea. They 
ought to be allowed to get lost overboard unac- 
countably, with Saratoga trunks, the first night 
out. 

Twenty-two years ago, when I was returning 
in the Clytie from Bermuda, a clergyman guest 
went on deck to smoke after dinner, and 
promptly fell over a steamer chair. He sat 
quietly rubbing his shin, until another guest who 
was following him also fell over the steamer 
chair, and made a comment, upon which the 
clergyman said, "Oh ! thank you, that was what 
I wanted to say." 

A powerful lamp to hang under boom should 
be provided, also a good deck card-table with 

45 



folding legs. Feet of deck chairs and table 
should have rubber sockets. The deck will be 
much used in the evening in the tropics. 
Quarantine. Be careful to comply with all regu- 
lations. Carry vaccination certificates from 
home, or you may have to submit to examination 
and to vaccination in case a recent mark be not 
found. Have the crew all vaccinated. 

Where there is the least doubt, ask, before 
entering, whether a port is clean, so as to be 
sure that you can get a clean bill of health when 
leaving. 



PRESENT CONDITIONS IN THE ISLANDS 

The multiplicity of quarantine regulations be- 
tween the islands is annoying to travelers, and 
greatly interferes with trade, etc. 

There appears an intention to put obstacles in 
the way of intercourse. 

Rodney expressly insisted, at the time of the 
Treaty of Versailles, 1783, that Dominica must 
be retained by the English to prevent the French 
islands on either side of it from becoming too 
prosperous and important. 

This isolation has been ruinous to Dominica. 
46 



It is almost without roads or trade, while the 
islands on either side — Martinique and Guade- 
loupe — ^have good roads and considerable com- 
merce, mostly with France. 

Dominica has fine streams and very fertile 
soil, and is well suited for all kinds of tropical 
produce in the lowlands, and for many other 
crops on the higher levels. The inhabitants 
speak a French patois, and live for the most 
part, as far as I could see, in miserable huts. 
They have many fish in their rivers and off- 
shore fisheries, but cannot sell to Guadeloupe, 
which depends for most of its fish on salt codfish 
brought from the French fisheries at Newfound- 
land. 

How could any State in our Union prosper if 
each county had its own quarantine and customs 
laws, and a lot of officials to enforce them, and 
a currency which was at large discount in the 
next county? 

Almost all the principal islands on the east 
side of the Caribbean Sea have exceedingly rich 
soil, and would be very prosperous if they had 
free trade with the United States and with each 
other. 

The English islands will, I think, soon be 
clamoring for some connection with us, if they 
47 



find we treat Cuba and the Danish islands Hb- 
erally. The English Virgins come within about 
one mile of the Danish Virgins. It is already 
beginning to be understood that Porto Rico is 
improving, and that laborers now get higher 
wages there than in the Leeward and Windward 
Islands, where men for the most part receive 
twenty cents a day, and where women work in 
the fields and on the roads for much less. 

The English are concentrating their forces at 
Castries, St. Lucia, a very important land- 
locked harbor and coaling station, to defend 
which they are spending vast sums on modern 
fortifications, etc. Much of the work about the 
fortifications and almost all the loading and un- 
loading of ships are done by women. The 
women, with slight clothing and bare feet, walk 
on long gang-planks, carrying on their heads 
baskets of the softest coal, the dust from which 
is carried about by the wind. The combination 
of royal mail steamers and ragged female steve- 
dores is not pleasing. 

The British war-ship Sirius anchored near us, 
and in returning our salute played "The Star- 
Spangled Banner," and the senior lieutenant 
came at once on board to bring the commodore's 
compliments, etc. 

48 



Trinidad and Tobago are self-supporting and 
prosperous, but before long the question of dis- 
posing of the English Leeward and Windward 
Islands, excepting St. Lucia, will, I think, be- 
come a prominent one in English politics.^ 

The Federation Act of 1871 effected good in 
some directions, and increased dissatisfaction in 
others. The commission of which Sir Henry 
Norman was president, sent out in 1897, has 
shown the agricultural position. The late con- 
ference on the sugar-bounty question has shown 
the benefits of discussion, and that nations can 
act in a civilized way toward each other, as 
many individual men do. But it is now obvious 
that something further is necessary for the pros- 
perity of the Leeward and Windward Islands, 
to stop annual deficits and to avoid the dangers 
that must arise from popular discontent. 

Access to the markets of the United States 
appears indispensable for real prosperity. Free 
intercourse and trade between themselves would 
help. 

^ "Dominica stands between the two French colonies, show- 
ing, in its internal condition, a lamentable contrast to their 
prosperity. What we have done with it since about 1805 
no one knows, except those who are directly interested, and 
to those the last half century has been disastrous. Some 
people say, restore it to the French, and allow them to raise 

49 



Sea power has long been the great thought of 
English statesmen in their consideration of the 
West Indies. Very astute English governors 
and admirals there have for centuries reported to 
the foreign office on this question. Sir William 
Stapleton, Governor of the Leeward Islands in 
the time of Charles II, wrote in one of his re- 
ports : '^He that is master of the sea will go near 
to he the same at land." 

It is now recognized that the ownership of a 
great number of islands does not increase sea 
power. Only very few islands have deep land- 
locked harbors like Castries, where modern ves- 
sels of war can coal. 

it to the level of their own contiguous colonies, but such a 
course could not be advocated in these pages. . . . 

Imports in 1882, £72,326. Exports in 1878, £84,703. 

Imports in 1887, £46,890. Exports in 1887, £48,105." 

"The West Indies," by G. W. Eves, F.R.G.S., member of the 
Royal Colonial Institute. Published under the auspices of 
the Royal Colonial Ir^Jtitute, the most important and influ- 
ential association connected with the British colonies. His 
Majesty King Edward VII, when Prince of Wales, was 
president, and delivered a lengthy address from the chair 



50 



NOTES 

REGARDING THE BERMUDAS, BARBADOS, 
ANTIGUA, AND THE BAHAMAS 



NOTES 

REGARDING THE BERMUDAS, BARBADOS, 
ANTIGUA, AND THE BAHAMAS 

Bermudas. Very interesting and beautiful islands, 
but there is often strong northerly wind, and 
the seas about Bermuda are usually rough. 

I went there first in 1880, in the Clytie, and 
found a charming and most hospitable place. 
There was so much going on ashore at St. 
George's and at Hamilton, that we saw little of 
the islands. When we left, Governor Laffan 
sent his launch to show us the way out of Ham- 
ilton harbor. Lady Laffan and her family sailed 
with us to the admiralty buoy, where Admiral 
McClintock and Lady McClintock and others 
came on board also for luncheon. Then we 
started for home. But off St. George's, Colo- 
nel Vigors of the XIX (Princess of Wales's 
Own) and Colonel Stokes of the Engineers 
came out in a cutter and said that they had 
the big guns trained to sink us unless we 

53 



came ashore and dined at the Engineers' mess, 
as we had not dined at that mess. So we an- 
chored in St. George's harbor and dined with the 
Engineers, remaining at table until after mid- 
night. There were many more troops at Ber- 
muda in those days than there are now. The 
XIX had the finest mess-plate, etc., I have ever 
seen. I remember that some of the band sang, 
as well as played, during dinner. 

I took an American twenty-foot cat-boat to 
Bermuda on deck of steamer in 1886, and en- 
joyed much the sailing about inner harbor. The 
sailing for yachts in the inner and outer har- 
bors is rather restricted, and is not nearly so 
good as at Nassau for yachts drawing six and 
one half feet or less. 

In sailing south from Bermuda toward St. 
Thomas one may be delayed by doldrums. By 
sailing from Bermuda in a southeasterly direc- 
tion for a couple of days or so, to meet the 
northeast trades, Barbados may commonly be 
reached as soon as, or sooner than, St. Thomas 
could be from Bermuda. 

A supply of selected new potatoes, etc., should 
be got at Bermuda. 
Barbados is an interesting island, densely popu- 
lated, having over one thousand inhabitants per 

54 



square mile — about five times as many as in 
Massachusetts. But it would not be pleasant 
for a yacht inside the dirty little inner harbor, 
and the roadstead is uncomfortable, the waves 
rolling in almost all the time around the south- 
western corner of the island. 

There is a screw dock where vessels of con- 
siderable size are hauled. 

The troops are about to be moved to St. Lucia, 
and Barbados seems to be declining in impor- 
tance, although the whites there claim that this 
island has a distinct advantage in that the ne- 
groes cannot find crown lands there to squat on, 
and so have to work on the sugar plantations. 

The island is well worth seeing, has a fine 
club, pleasant society, and many interesting 
early associations with Massachusetts and Vir- 
ginia. 

Henry Winthrop went there with the first set- 
tlers under Captain Powell in 1626, and wrote 
interesting letters thence to his father, John 
Winthrop, afterward first Governor of Massa- 
chusetts.^ 

The Woodbridge estate was the finest on the 

^Another son, Samuel Winthrop, settled at Antigua, and 
another son, John Winthrop, Jr., founded New London, Con- 
necticut. See "Mass. Historical Coll.," vol. viii, fifth series. 

55 



island. Part of it, "Porter's plantation/' still re- 
mains in the possession of a descendant of John 
Woodbridge, who married a daughter of 
Thomas Dudley, second Governor of Massa- 
chusetts, whose son Samuel married Governor 
Winthrop's daughter Mary. The private chapel 
of Dudley Woodbridge, now turned into a swim- 
ming bath, is still shown, close by the house at 
Porter's plantation.^ 

Washington, when about twenty years old, 
visited Barbados. He was then a major in the 
British army in Virginia, and had been official 
surveyor of Culpeper County and had stud- 
ied navigation. W^hile at sea, although very 
seasick, he kept a log-book, and "took with regu- 
larity the daily instrumental observations." He 
also kept a journal, in which he writes as fol- 
lows of arrival off Barbados, November 3, 

"We were greatly alarm'd with the cry of 
Land at 4 a.m. : we quitted our beds with sur- 
prise and found ye land plainly appearing about 
3 leauges distance when by our reckonings we 
shou'd have been near 150 leauges to the Wind- 
ward we to Leeward abt ye distance above men- 

^ See marble tablet in the chapel, and wife's 
tomb in parish church. 

56 



tion'd and had we been but 3 or 4 leauges more 
we shou'd have been out of sight of the Island 
run down the Latitude and probably not have 
discover'd our Error in time to have gain'd the 
land for 3 Weeks or More." ^ 

If Washington had been trained in the New 
York Yacht Club, he might have been able to 
ascertain his position at sea more accurately. 
For the letters he wrote when sending his unsat- 
isfactory slaves to Barbados to be sold and the 
proceeds converted into rum, etc., and the use 
he made of the "best Barbadoes rum," etc., for 
electioneering purposes when he was a candi- 
date for the Virginia House of Burgesses, see 
"The True George Washington," by Paul Lei- 
cester Ford.2 

^"The Daily Journal of Major George Washington," pub- 
fished by Joel Munsell's Sons, Albany, New York. 

^Mr. Ford gives some particulars of Washington's first 
efforts in local politics, and it appears that when he ran for 
burgess in 1757, Washington opposed the liquor interest and 
was defeated, the vote being: Swearingen, 270; Washing- 
ton, 40. The following year the friendly aid of the county 
boss, John Wood, was secured, and the voters enjoyed, at' 
Washington's charge — 

I hhd. & I Barrell of Punch consisting of 
26 gals, best Barbadoes rum 
12 lbs. S. Refd. Sugar 
40 gallons of Rum Punch 

57 



Antigua, capital of the Leeward Islands. Intri- 
cate, shallow harbor. Anchorage far from land- 

10 Bowls of Punch 
28j4 gallons of wine 
46 gallons of beer, mostly strong beer 
besides Brandy, Cyder and a "Dinner for Friends," and he 
was elected, the vote being Washington 310, Swearingen 45. 
After the election he wrote to Wood, "My only fear is that 
you spent with too sparing a hand." 

Washington continued to treat the electors liberally and to 
be elected burgess until he took command of the army. 

In 1766 Washington wrote: 

"With this letter comes a negro (Tom) which I beg the 
favor of you to sell in any of the islands you may go to, 
for whatever he will fetch, and bring me in return for him 

One hhd of best molasses 

One ditto of best rum 

One barrel of lymes, if good and cheap 

One pot of tamarinds, containing about 10 lbs. 

Two small ditto of mixed sweetmeats, about 5 lbs. each. 
And the residue, much or little, in good old spirits. That 
this fellow is both a rogue and a runaway, . . ." 

Another "misbehaving fellow" was shipped off in 1791, 
and was sold for "one pipe and Quarter Cask of wine from 
the West Indies . . ." 

Later, Washington writes to his overseer, "I am sorry that 
so likely a fellow as Matilda's Ben should addict himself 
to such courses as he is pursuing, . . ." and threatens 
that he will "ship him off (as I did Wagoner Jack) for the 
West Indies." 

In considering the question as to the fitness of any people 
for self-government, one ought to study the real conditions 
in our own country at the time of the Revolution. 

58 



ing. Not as interesting as many of the other 
islands. 
The Bahamas. The neighborhood of Nassau is 
a most charming place for winter yachting in 
small yachts not over six and one half feet draft. 
A line of islands extends northeasterly from 
Nassau forty-five miles to the north point of 
Eleuthera, a narrow, fertile island, which runs 
thence southeasterly forty-five miles and then 
south forty miles. These islands protect from 
the northerly and easterly prevailing winds a 
great shallow, crescent-shaped bight, about sixty 
miles long between the east and west ends, and 
fifteen miles wide in the middle. This is also 
protected on the south by nearly dry coral-sand- 
banks, and on the west by shoals. The water 
is mostly two to ^ve fathoms, but there are 
shoals, reefs, and coral-heads. The bottom be- 
ing coral and coral-sand, the colors of the water 
present very beautiful shades of green, and the 
dark coral-heads are easily seen. 

To sail from this bight to Nassau, the chan- 
nel has only one and one fourth fathoms, and 
there is only about the same water in going from 
the bight through the channels to Spanish Wells, 
to Harbor Island, and along the shores of Eleu- 
thera to Exuma Sound, and in the best pro- 

59 



tected parts of numerous harbors in the neigh- 
borhood and in crossing the western part of the 
Great Bahama Bank or coral shelf from the 
Tongue of the Ocean to the Florida Straits. So 
if a yacht draws seven feet, it will often get 
aground or have to wait for tides, etc., or sail 
out into the open ocean. 

I spent nearly two months sailing about these 
waters in February and March, 1901, in my 
small yacht Mermaid, which I built for the pur- 
pose when I had not recovered sufficiently from 
the loss of my leg for a more distant cruise. I 
know of no other place where one can enjoy so 
much pleasant, smooth-water sailing in the win- 
ter as at Nassau. The Mermaid, which I no 
longer own, is, according to yacht measurement, 
forty-six feet load water-line, sixty-six feet four 
inches over all, thirty-one tons, six feet draft, 
but draws nearly six and one half feet when 
fully loaded for a long cruise, with extra stores, 
etc. 

I was less than twenty-five hours sailing from 
opposite the hotel at Miami to Nassau. We had 
a severe norther, and kept in the ship channel, 
for there was too much surf to get through the 
passage on to the Great Bahama Bank at Gun 
Cay, as I had intended to do. Returning from 
60 



Nassau to Miami, we were only twenty-two 
hours actual sailing. We went from Nassau to 
Northwest Channel, forty miles, thence across 
shelf, mostly two fathoms of water, seventy 
miles to Cat Cay ^ at Gun Cay Channel, and 
sailed thence to Miami. 

I stopped overnight with a very hospitable 
Englishman whom I had met at Government 
House, Nassau. He owns Cat Cay. All the 
inhabitants, about twenty-five, are in his em- 
ploy, and he has a yacht and was building a 
stone breakwater. 

Gun Cay is only forty-five miles from the 
mouth of Miami Channel. Even a very small 
yacht can go to Nassau from Miami, Florida, by 
anchoring near mouth of Miami harbor until 
there is a favorable day, then sailing to Gun Cay, 
anchoring there overnight, and then sailing over 
western part of shelf (Great Bahama Bank) to 
Northwest Channel, and thence across Tongue 
of the Ocean to Nassau. A pilot had best be 
taken at Miami or at Gun Cay, as the North- 
west Channel is very intricate and not easy to 
find. 

Large yachts at Nassau must anchor in a 
somewhat exposed position, and they seldom get 
* About twenty miles south of Bernini. 
6i 



their anchors up, except to leave for a distant 
port. Yachts drawing under seven feet find per- 
fectly quiet anchorage. 

March 7, 1901, I sailed what was, I think, the 
first international yacht race in this century. It 
was against the Taormina, belonging to Count 
Colloredo-Mansfeldt, and formerly owned by 
Commander Henn. The course was on the 
ocean off Nassau, ten miles to leeward and re- 
turn. We had a strong wind, and the Mermaid 
beat by eight minutes, without regard to the 
about fourteen minutes' time allowance to which 
she was entitled. The English war-ship Buz- 
zard fired the guns and took charge of the race, 
placing a lieutenant on each yacht. 

I sailed about Exuma Sound and as far as the 
south end of Cat Island. Regarding the much 
discussed question, w^hether Cat or Watlings is 
the true San Salvador of Columbus, — the first 
land he saw in the New World, — neither island 
appears to agree fully with the description given 
by him. The New York Yacht Club ought to 
settle this question authoritatively. 

There is another historical question regarding 
the Bahamas, about which I am unable to ex- 
press any opinion. I have repeatedly sailed near 
the island of Bemini, but have never landed 
62 



there. Now the sedate and eminent New Eng- 
land historian, Professor Francis Parkman, who 
characterizes my venerated ancestor, the second 
colonial Governor of Massachusetts, as "the 
harsh and narrow Dudley, grown gray in repel- 
lent virtue and grim honesty," says that the ex- 
traordinary beauty of Bemini women is sup- 
posed to explain the story of the Fountain of 
Youth.i 

In coming up the coast, the Mermaid went 
inside the islands from Fernandina to Savannah, 
and inside, through the sounds and canal, from 
Ocracoke Inlet to Hampton Roads, then up the 
Chesapeake Bay and through the short canal into 
the Delaware River, up the river and through the 
Raritan Canal to Perth Amboy, and sailed thence 

^ ''Such a man was the veteran Cavalier Juan Ponce de 
Leon. Greedy of honors and of riches, he embarked at 
Porto Rico with three brigantines, bent on schemes of dis- 
covery. But that which gave the chief stimulus to his en- 
terprise was a story, current among the Indians of Cuba 
and Hispaniola, that on the Island of Bemini, said to be one 
of the Bahamas, there was a fountain of such virtue that, 
bathing in its waters, old men resumed their youth. 

"The story has an explanation sufficiently characteristic, 
having been suggested, it is said, by the beauty of the native 
women, which none could resist, and which kindled the fires 
of youth in the veins of age." "The Jesuits in North Amer- 
ica in the Seventeenth Century," by Francis Parkman. 

63 



to New York. A little less than six and one half 
feet draft would have been better for the bar at 
Ocracoke. But it is probable that the govern- 
ment may do considerable dredging in that 
neighborhood soon. 

The sailing about Hampton Roads, Chesa- 
peake Bay, and Delaware River, and the towing 
through canals from the Chesapeake to the Dela- 
ware, and thence to Perth Amboy, makes a 
pleasant cruise for small yachts, say in May, 
before the yachting season opens at New York. 



64 



SAILING REMINISCENCES AND 

YACHTING COMPARED WITH 

OTHER SPORTS 



SAILING REMINISCENCES AND 

YACHTING COMPARED WITH 

OTHER SPORTS 

When I had about completed the foregoing, I 
showed it to the secretary of our club, who has 
made three cruises in the West Indies, and I asked 
him whether the club would care for it, and whe- 
ther he could suggest any alterations. He assured 
me that the club would be glad to have it, and only 
suggested that I add illustrations and more per- 
sonal reminiscences. I will endeavor to comply 
with the latter suggestion, others in whose judg- 
ment I have confidence having also taken the re- 
sponsibility of advising it. 

Now, from a tender age I have longed to be 
wrecked on a desert island. But the nearest I have 
ever come to this was getting aground for a short 
time, in pleasant weather and in sheltered water, 
on the soft coral-sand of the Great Bahama Bank. 

I would be pleased to include an account of a 
West Indian hurricane, but in February, March, 

67 



and April hurricanes in the Caribbean Sea are ex- 
perienced only by young yachtsmen and by nau- 
tical romancers, and strangely escape the notice of 
all government statisticians. 

Navy Department Publication No. 86, vol. i, 
gives a table showing the relative frequency of 
these storms during the period 1 885-1 897, in- 
clusive. The totals are as follows : 6 in June, 4 in 
July, 16 in August, 26 in September, 26 in Octo- 
ber, and 10 in November. 

I have, however, seen serious storms in two 
voyages which I made with Captain Samuels in 
the clipper ship Dreadnaught, between New York 
and Liverpool. One of these was the terrible gale 
of October, 1859, when we were in the Irish Chan- 
nel, and not far from the Royal Charter, which 
went down, with the loss of four hundred and 
fifty lives. The Dreadnaught, with her clipper 
bow and laid to under double-reefed new topsails, 
made good weather of it. 

Among the yachting experiences that I remem- 
ber with most pleasure were the Corinthian races 
when I owned the Clytie. The Clytie was seventy- 
eight feet on water-line, and I was allowed a crew 
of fifteen — all amateurs. I used to train them for 
a number of afternoons each year before the 
races began, and the men would get their hands 

68 



and muscles in condition. It was easy, in those 
days, to get amateur crews from among the mem- 
bers of the New York Yacht Club and the Sea- 
wanhaka Yacht Club. 

The races were around the Scotland Lightship, 
and we had some exciting times. 



CRUISING IN A TOURIST STEAMER 

In what I have written regarding the superior 
advantages of a sailing yacht for a visit to the 
West Indies, I do not wish to imply that a trip in 
one of the tourist steamers may not be enjoyable. 

I remember with much pleasure my visit there 
in 1899 in the Paris. We had an interesting party 
on board — among them ex-Secretary ^then Sena- 
tor) John Sherman, who, however, was taken ill at 
San Juan and had to return to Washington in a 
government vessel from Guantanamo, Cuba. Gen- 
eral Grant, who was in command of the forces at 
San Juan, came out in his steam launch and took 
Senator Sherman and my farriily ashore, and we 
were together much of the day. It was warm and 
showery. The senator took fatiguing walks about 
the forts and the outer fortifications, got wet, took 

69 



a long drive, and sat in a windy place. We re- 
peatedly called his attention to the fact that he 
was exposing himself, but he smiled at this, and it 
was difficult to get him to button his coat when 
driving. He was gay and almost boyish. I re- 
member how he stopped to buy a lot of oranges, 
which he distributed to children in the street. 

A number of eminent members of the American 
bar were also on the Paris, including ex-Chief Jus- 
tice Ide of the Supreme Court of Samoa, John E. 
Parsons, Frederic Coudert, and Francis L. Stetson. 
We had also Mr. O'Donohue, prominent in poli- 
tics up the Hudson, who gave a supper to forty 
guests on St. Patrick's day. The sentiment of the 
evening appeared to be : 

"St. Patrick drove the snakes away, and kept them quite 
remote ; 
But, blessings iver on his sowl, he left the antidote." 

I had the honor to assist at the feast, and told 
them that, while I was not a Knight of St. Patrick, 
I was a member of the St. George Society, which 
I presumed to be much the same thing. 

The next day Mr. O'Donohue complained that 
during the feast a green parrot, which he had 
bought at Martinique, had been killed by two mon- 
keys belonging to gentlemen occupying neighbor- 
ing cabins. 

70 



He knew that both monkeys were engaged in 
the assauh, for his green parrot had been war- 
ranted to whip any monkey in the Caribbean Sea. 
He claimed ten thousand dollars damages, and it 
was resolved to have a trial that evening. 

John Doe and Richard Roe, two monkeys, were 
impleaded with their owners. Judge Ide presided, 
and declared that the cause must be tried according 
to Samoan law. Mr. Coudert protested against 
Judge Ide, who, he said, had long lived at Apia, 
and was no doubt related to the defendants. I 
was excused from serving on the jury because I 
had read Darwin. 

Mr. vStetson, for the plaintiff, made a heart-rend- 
ing appeal on behalf of his bereaved client. He 
began, "This morning at early dawn there was 
committed to the deep." The witnesses, except 
one pretty woman, were badgered and treated 
awfully. Mr. Colgate Hoyt testified that he did 
not know very much about green parrots, but that 
he was well acquainted with green things in Wall 
Street, and that a pile of twenty thousand dollars 
in greenbacks was just about the size of this par- 
rot. In cross-examination he accounted for about 
forty-five years of his life, when Mr. Coudert 
asked, "Where were you the other twenty-five 
years?" Mr. Hoyt, commencing to answer, said, 
"Well — " when Mr. Coudert attacked him in the 

71 



most savage manner: "Why do you say, Well'? 
Don't you know that truth was supposed to be 
found in the bottom of a well? And here you 
come with falsehood in your heart and perjury on 
your lips," etc. 

Toward the end of the trial, the parrot was pro- 
duced safe and well. This led to a fierce attack by 
Mr. Stetson upon those who had violated the sanc- 
tity of his client's stateroom. 

The jury, of which Mr. Charles Stewart Smith, 
ex-president of the New York Chamber of Com- 
merce, was foreman, brought in a verdict of ten 
thousand dollars in favor of the defendant mon- 
keys, because the language which the parrot had 
used was such as to more than justify their attack. 

The trip on the steamer was enjoyable, but 
yachting is much better, and I have always greatly 
preferred sail yachting to steam. 



THE DOUBLE-HULLED SCHOONER NEREID 

The first yacht I ever owned was the double- 
hulled schooner Nereid, which I built in 1877. 
Some of the old members will remember that that 
freak boat did not prove an unmitigated success in 

72 



the club. Even my dear friend, our then commo- 
dore, Nicholson Kane, appeared unable to appre- 
ciate her charms. 

My father, who was fond of outdoor exercise, 
and who taught me early to ride, shoot, and fish, 
did not like yachting, and after sailing on the 
Nereid from Shelter Island to New London in an 
easterly blow and with the tide running out through 
the Race, told me that the motion of the Nereid 
reminded him of a jackass kicking up its heels, and 
that the heels seemed to strike him in the stomach 
every time. 



YACHTING COMPARED WITH OTHER SPORTS 

That I may not be supposed unduly to exalt the 
pleasures of yachting from want of knowing other 
sports, I may mention that I shot deer and other 
game when I was a boy. In 1863 I hunted buffa- 
loes on the plains, riding alongside them and shoot- 
ing them with a revolver; and I have seen much 
of the best fox-hunting with the Quorn, Pytchley, 
Fernie, Cheshire, North Warwickshire, and other 
celebrated packs during many years. I have been 
at good shoots, and have done much coach-driv- 

73 



ing in England. The last time I was there I spent 
about three months visiting, during the hunting 
season, in the country houses of Northamptonshire, 
Leicestershire, etc., including Stanford Hall, Ding- 
ley Hall, Coton House, Hothorpe, Cottesbrook, 
Lubenham, Kilworth, Thornton, etc. 

I admit that for a man who can ride to hounds, 
and has a lot of good hunters, there is no sport 
so good as fox-hunting in England. But if yacht- 
ing be not the very first of sports, it is, I think, 
the next, and far ahead of those behind.^ 

Yachting is the natural sport for those living 
on our Atlantic seaboard. The New York Yacht 
Club has the lead, and has the best and most ac- 
cessible waters for its summer cruise. Let us now 
preempt for winter squadron cruising the neigh- 
boring waters of the eastern Caribbean Sea. 
- See end of foot-note, page 2^. 



74 



YACHTING IN GRECIAN WATERS 



YACHTING IN GRECIAN WATERS 

April, May, and June are the best months. 

It is easy to obtain, through American yacht 
agencies, good English yachts then in the Mediter- 
ranean, and whose owners want to return home 
overland for the London season. 

A dragoman, to act as interpreter, etc., is neces- 
sary, and can be obtained at Athens. I found it 
useful to have also a Greek boy, whom the drago- 
man engaged, to run into the interior at some of 
the islands to get milk, vegetables, etc. 

All of Greece can easily be visited in a yacht. 
There is no part so distant that one cannot see it by 
leaving the yacht in the morning and returning 
in the evening, and there are harbors everywhere. 
By sailing close to shore and into the beautiful 
little harbors, an entirely different idea of the 
islands is obtained from what one gets from a mail 
steamer. From the steamer the islands look very 
barren, but close inshore many olive trees and a 
great variety of flowers are to be seen, with the 
interesting remains of ancient architecture, etc. It 

11 



is also delightful to bathe in warm, clear water, 
in sight of snow-capped mountains and among 
scenes of undying interest.^ 

I chartered a steam yacht during parts of April 
and May, 1887, but, if one has time, a good sailing 
yacht would, I think, be preferable. We had a 
good sailing breeze almost every day from about 
nine o'clock. 

^ As showing the connection between sport and philosophy, 
we may consider what a different world this would be if 
Socrates and Glaucon had not attended the races at the 
Piraeus. 



78 



YACHTING IN ENGLISH WATERS 



YACHTING IN ENGLISH WATERS 

The most interesting event is Cowes week, early 
in August. I was there August 3 to 9, 1889, and 
I remember that four members of the Royal Squad- 
ron were required to introduce me and three of 
my family at the Castle for that week, which was 
also the week for the great naval review. It is, 
I suppose, still the rule that each member can in- 
troduce only one guest for Cowes week. So Eng- 
lish friends should be notified in advance. 

We went to Cowes in the English yacht Lan- 
cashire Witch, which then belonged to sons of 
my uncle, Daniel James, Esq., of Lancashire. The 
Lancashire Witch was given the position on 
the port bow of the German emperor's yacht when 
this was escorted into the harbor. I remember 
how the German officers, who had been lolling 
about, suddenly struck their heels together and 
stood in a stiff and, in the sea-way, a difficult atti- 
tude so long as His Imperial Majesty remained 
in sight on the port side of the upper deck. 

I remember also how His Majesty Edward VH, 
81 



then Prince of Wales, used to walk around on the 
castle lawn, talking with the ladies at the tea- 
tables, or standing with one foot carelessly resting 
on a railing or on a chair and talking with friends 
in a merry, hearty manner. 

An old American war-ship, the Enterprise, I 
think, was given the most conspicuous anchor- 
age, immediately in front of the Castle, and made 
a funny contrast to the modern battle-ships. When 
the royalties went on board the yachts, each vessel 
in the harbor fired a gun, and we would see a 
little puff from the Enterprise which seemed to 
say, "Me, too." 

I was surprised to notice how few of the yachts 
ever got up their anchors during Cowes week, 
how very few yachts took any part in the races, 
and how little the owners and guests and the public 
appeared to care about yachting. Such a contrast 
to the interest shown at horse races! We had 
just come from Goodwood, one of the pleasantest 
of all race meetings. The yachts feared to move 
lest they should lose their anchorages and make 
it dif^cult for guests to find their way on board 
for dinner. In the morning we would get cards 
at the Castle, showing that perhaps thirty or more 
yachts had entered for the Queen's Cup or other 
event. At the start it would be seen that perhaps 

82 



twenty-five of these had scratched, often from be- 
ing dissatisfied with their handicaps. 

A good way to see thoroughly the handling of 
English yachts is to go to the Cinque Port race, 
three times around a triangular course, off Dover. 
Royal Thames Yacht Club members have a steam 
tug for the race. There are also plenty of little 
yawls to be hired for the day. 

The vast number of yachts in England is sur- 
prising when we consider how little favorable the 
waters there are for pleasure sailing compared 
with the waters of our Atlantic coast and the east- 
ern part of the Caribbean Sea. 

This makes it evident that we are to have a great 
development of yachting in this country. Before 
many years, yachts of the New York Yacht Club 
may be going through an isthmian canal to cruise 
along our Pacific coast. 



83 



OF THE FUTURE OF THE ISLANDS 

NORTH AND EAST OF THE 

CARIBBEAN SEA 



OF THE FUTURE OF THE ISLANDS 

NORTH AND EAST OF THE 

CARIBBEAN SEA 

The future of these islands, and their probable 
relations to the United States, must engage the 
attention of every thoughtful American visitor. 

Their destiny appears to depend on our coun- 
try. What will be the results for us and for them 
of the closer relations which appear inevitable? 

If the nations that now control them should 
offer most of these islands to us, upon the request 
or with the free consent of the inhabitants, could 
we safely assume the responsibilities involved in 
accepting them? 

Is our form of government suitable for such 
expansion by "benevolent assimilation" of these 
peoples, for the most part inferior to us in civili- 
zation ? 

Consideration of the many island problems we 
already have to solve, and our difficulties regard- 
ing the negro vote, ought, I think, to lead us to 
admire the wisdom of our fathers in establishing 

87 



our Constitution on a home-rule basis, with local 
option regarding local questions, including suf- 
frage. 

Our Constitution originally provided : 

Article I, Section i. All legislative powers herein granted 
shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which 
shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives. 
Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed 
of members chosen every second year by the people of the 
several States, and the electors in each State shall have the 
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous 
branch of the State legislature. And it provides that (Sec- 
tion 8) all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform 
throughout the United States, . . . that (Article IV, Sec- 
tion 3) new States may be admitted by the Congress into 
this Union, . . . and that Congress shall have power to 
dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations re- 
specting the territory or other property belonging to the 
United States. 

On this basis, all the world might unite in one 
great republic, which might include states and ter- 
ritories having limited suffrage, as well as those 
having imiversal suffrage. Rhode Island was ad- 
mitted with a State Constitution under which only 
eldest sons could vote. There was no attempt to 
exalt equality above liberty. 

But we have permitted the so-called "war power" 
to exalt itself above the Constitution. It has been 
said, with popular applause, "If you hear any one 

88 



prating about the Constitution, spot him — he is a 
traitor." 

We call our government Democratic or Repub- 
lican, but it is now clearly Timocratic,^ and well 
on the road through oligarchy toward despotism, 
which we cannot escape unless we heed the lessons 
of history. 

Plato's "Republic" shows how democracy was 
always followed by despotism. Our fathers, keenly 
alive to this supreme danger, established a writ- 

^ The ambitious constitution . . . (We must call it 
Timocracy . . .) We will proceed to examine the am- 
bitious man . . . 

Then pray, Glaucon, how will our state be shaken . . . 

The violence of their mutual contentions would induce 
the two parties to come to an agreement, on the under- 
standing that they should divide and appropriate the land 
and houses, and enslave their formerly free wards, friends, 
and maintainers, from henceforth to be held as an inferior 
tribe and as servants, and apply themselves to war and their 
own protection. 

I believe you have described correctly the passage to 
Timocracy. 

Then will not this Constitution be a kind of mean between 
aristocracy and oligarchy? Assuredly it will. 

. . . Who, then, is the man that answers to this [timo- 
cratic] Constitution . . . what is his character? . . . 
A passion for distinction and command, to which he lays 
claim ... on the ground of deeds of arms and ex- 
ploits congenial to war, devoted as he is to bodily exercise 
and field sports. Socrates, in Plato's "Republic," book viii. 

89 



ten Constitution which they supposed would pre- 
vent the otherwise inevitable sequence. 

Our Constitution clearly limits, defines, and 
separates the functions of each branch of the gov- 
ernment. 

But of late there has grown up among us a gen- 
eral system of government by usurpation. 

Our Presidents usurp the authority of the Sen- 
ate and House by declaring a personal policy and 
using patronage to influence legislative votes. 

Senators usurp the authority of the President 
by insisting that appointments be made for their 
personal political advantage. 

The general government usurps "rights reserved 
to the States respectively or to the people." 

Judges, by injunction, usurp the prerogatives of 
juries, and jurors usurp the authority of judges 
in matters of legal interpretation. 

Our State legislatures usurp authority over local 
affairs of cities and pass sumptuary laws, which 
they know will not be enforced among a free peo- 
ple who can quote the express injunction of the 
New Testament, "Let no man therefore judge you 
in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, 
or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath" (Col. ii, 
i6), while mayors and policemen usurp a veto 
power regarding certain laws. 

90 



That authority in barbarous times implied usur- 
pation has been sufficiently pointed out. But usur- 
pation has no place in a civilized constitutional gov- 
ernment. A government fit to govern America 
and outlying islands must be based upon the strict 
interpretation of a constitution. This form of 
government our fathers, under divine guidance, 
established upon the consent of the governed and 
on a mind-your-own-business basis. 

Our Constitution most fully provides for its 
own orderly amendment to meet any possible con- 
tingency. If the people of this country should 
want to change the United States of America to 
the Empire of America and Asia, they have com- 
plete constitutional authority to do so by a consti- 
tutional majority. But the President and Con- 
gress have no right to make the slightest alteration 
in the Constitution without due ratification by three 
fourths of the States in the manner provided by 
Article V. Any attempts to alter the Constitution 
by usurpation are as unnecessary as they are de- 
structive. 

Our country can have abundant peaceful ex- 
pansion in the Caribbean Sea by consenting to 
give there the rights enjoyed by our own Terri- 
tories. But "forcible annexation" by imperial 
methods and pressure, in the interest of selfish 

91 



monopolists and politicians, would prove disas- 
trous, and disastrous most of all in undermining 
our own free institutions. 

Our security and our ability to expand with 
safety depend upon our determination and our 
ability to stop this usurpation and to return to 
strict constitutional methods. We must insist that 
each branch of our government perform only its 
own authorized functions. We must not permit 
presidential or congressional or military usurpa- 
tion to result in "criminal aggression." 

Let us give to all islands and to all countries 
coming in any way under our influence distinct 
assurance that we will not interfere, except to pro- 
tect them from foreign aggression and to enable 
them freely to establish and to maintain free gov- 
ernments of their own choice; that we will not 
annex them except on their own application to be 
admitted to our Union as States or as Territories ; 
and that if they be so admitted they shall enjoy 
all the rights belonging to the citizens of our pres- 
ent country. 

This, I think, is our only path of consistency 
and of safety. 

We stand now where Rome stood shortly be- 
fore the Christian era, when it started upon a new 
career of general expansion, which resulted in the 

92 



destruction of its liberties. Permit me to quote 
from one of the most generally accepted text-books 
used in our schools. 

The Roman state was in form and in name a Common- 
wealth or Republic; but in course of time all political 
power had come into the hands of a rich landed aristocracy, 
made up of both "patricians" and "plebeians." The organ 
of this aristocracy was the Senate. ... A seat in the 
Senate rested in theory upon the popular will. . . . 

Opposed to the landed aristocracy was a class of wealthy 
capitalists known as equites. . . . 

The moneyed aristocracy, accordingly, held aloof from 
public life, except where it might aid them to obtain rich 
contracts or to secure . . . the passage of some measure 
that should advance their private interests, . . , 

The poorer class of citizens, the plebs, were wholly influ- 
enced in their votes by their wealthy patrons or by schem- 
ing demagogues. . . . 

Partisans of the nobility were known as Optimates ; those 
opposed to them, as Populares. . . . 

The governing class was wholly incompetent to its task, 
and the only resource against anarchy appears to have been 
that some one man, by craft or force, should get all the 
reins of power into his single hand. . . . 

Caesar had all the qualities — statesmanlike insight, politi- 
cal ambition, and reckless audacity. Allen and Greenough's 
"Csesar," Introduction, p. xiv. 

Many American yachts are sure to be attracted, 
soon, to the Caribbean waters. This will be of 
advantage to the islands, while sea cruising will 
promote among us a healthy taste for real yachts 
as compared with expensive sailing machines. 

93 



LIST OF SOME BOOKS ABOUT 
THE WEST INDIES, ETC. 



LIST OF SOME BOOKS ABOUT 
THE WEST INDIES, ETC. 

Navy Department Publication No. 86, "The Navigation of 
the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea," vol. i. 

"The Cruise of the Montauk," by James McQuade of the 
New York Yacht Club. 

"The West Indies," by G. W. Eves, F.R.G.S. 

"Cuba and Porto Rico, with the other Islands of the West 
Indies," by Robert T. Hill. 

Stark's "Guides," published some by James H. Stark, Bos- 
ton, and some by the Boston Photo-Electrotype Co., Boston, 
six vols, or more. 

"The West Indies," by Amos Kidder Fiske. 

"In the Wake of Columbus," by Frederick A. Ober. 

"Camps in the Caribbees," by Ober. 

"The Story of the West Indies," by Arnold Kennedy. 

"At Last," by Charles Kingsley. 

"Cruising among the Caribbees," by Charles Augustus 
Stoddard. 

"Two Years in the French West Indies," by Lafcadio 
Hearn. 

"The English in the West Indies," by James Anthony 
Froude. 

"Down the Islands," by William Agnew Paton. 

"Puerto Rico," by William Dinwiddie. 

"The Porto Rico of To-Day," by Albert Gardner Rob- 
inson. 

"West India Pickles," by Tolboys. 

97 



"Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coast," by Frank R. 
Stockton. 

"Tom Cringle's Log," by Michael Scott. 

"Cruise of the Midge," by Michael Scott. 

"Equatorial America," by Maturin M. Ballou. 

"Youma," by Lafcadio Hearn. 

"Where Black Rules White," by Hesketh Prichard. 

See also catalogues of New York Yacht Club Library and 
of Navy Department Library. 

In some of these books further lists of books 
will be found. And in the Public Library, Boston, 
there is the Hunt Collection of West Indian books, 
maps, and charts. Local guide-books and books 
of stories relating to the islands are to be found at 
Bermuda, Trinidad, St. Lucia, Nassau, etc. ; among 
them may be mentioned "Sketches of Summer- 
land," by G. J. H. Northcroft, Nassau. 

Those who desire to make any thorough histori- 
cal study regarding the West Indies will, of course, 
consult Sonnenschein and catalogues in the great 
public libraries, and the standard works, including 
Hakluyt. 



98 



PLAN AND RECORD OF CRUISE 
YACHT --_ 

(To be filled in with lead-pencil.) 



L.oFC. 



PLAN OF CRUISE 



190 



"„7 

Cruise. 


Day 

of 
Month. 


Day 

of 

Week. 


SAIL FROM 


SAIL TO 


Sea 
Miles. 


I 












2 












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4 












5 












6 












7 












8 












9 












10 












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12 












13 












14 












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16 













100 



RECORD OF CRUISE 



190 



Day 

of 

Cruise. 


Day 

of 

Month. 


Day 

of 

Week. 


SAILED FROM 


SAILED TO 


Sea 
Miles. 


I 












2 












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8 












9 












10 












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12 












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16 













lOI 



PLAN OF CRUISE 



190 



Day 

of 

Cruise. 


Day 

of 
Month. 


Day 

of 
Week. 


SAIL FROM 


SAIL TO 


Sea 
Miles. 


17 












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' 


25 












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32 













102 



RECORD OF CRUISE 



190 



Day 

of 

Cruise. 


Day 

of 
Month. 


Day 

of 
Week. 


SAILED FROM 


SAILED TO 


Sea 
Miles. 


17 












18 












19 












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22 












as 












24 












25 












26 












27 












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32 













103 



PLAN OF CRUISE 



190 



"„7 

Cruise. 


Day 

of 

Month. 


Day 
of 

Week. 


SAIL FROM 


SAIL TO 


Sea 

Miles. 


33 












34 












35 












36 












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38 












39 












40 












41 












42 












43 












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45 












46 












47 












48 













104 



RECORD OF CRUISE 



190 



"„7 

Cruise. 


Day 

of 
Month. 


Day 

of 

Week. 


SAILED FROM 


SAILED TO 


Sea 
Miles. 


33 












34 












35 












36 












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38 












39 












40 












41 












42 












43 












44 












45 












46 












47 












48 













105 



PLAN OF CRUISE 



190 



Day 

of 
Cruise. 


Day 

of 
Month. 


Day 

of 

Week. 


SAIL FROM 


SAIL TO 


Sea 
Miles. 


49 












50 










^ 


51 












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53 












54 












55 












56 












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59 












60 












61 












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63 












64 













106 



RECORD OF CRUISE 



190 



Cruise. 


Day 

of 

Month. 


Day 

of 

Week. 


SAILED FROM 


SAILED TO 


Sea 

Miles. 


49 












50 












51 












52 












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56 












57 












58 












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64 













107 



PLAN OF CRUISE 



190 



°„7 

Cruise. 


Day 

of 
Month. 


Day 

of 
Week. 


SAIL FROM 


SAIL TO 


Sea 
Miles. 


65 












66 












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108 



RECORD OF CRUISE 



190 



Cruise. 


Day 

of 
Month. 


Day 

of 
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SAILED FROM 


SAILED TO 


Sea 

Miles. 


65 












66 












67 












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74 












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80 













109 



PLAN OF CRUISE 



190 



Cruise. 


Day 

of 

Month. 


Day 

of 

Week. 


SAIL FROM 


SAIL TO 


Sea 
Miles. 


81 












82 












83 












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90 












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92 












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95 













IIO 



RECORD OF CRUISE 



190 



^o7 

Cruise. 


Month. 


Day 

of 
Week. 


SAILED FROM 


SAILED TO 


Sea 
Miles. 


81 












82 












83 












84 












85 












86 












87 












88 












89 












90 












91 












92 












93 












94 












95 












96 













Ill 



PLAN OF CRUISE 



190 



Day 

of 

Cruise. 


"of 

Month. 


"of 
Week. 


SAIL FROM 


SAIL TO 


Sea 
MUes. 


97 












98 












99 












100 












lOI 












102 












103 












104 












105 












106 












107 












108 












109 












no 












III 












112 













112 



RECORD OF CRUISE 



190 



"o7 

Cruise. 


"of 

Month. 


"of 

Week. 


SAILED FROM 


SAILED TO 


Sea 
Miles. 


97 












98 












99 












100 












lOI 












102 












103 












104 












105 












106 












107 












108 












109 












no 












III 












112 













113 



INDEX 



INDEX 



A 
Abbatoirs, 29 
Acklin, 18 
Address, 9 
Aggression, 92 
Agriculture, 49 
Amateurs, 68 
America, 91 
American interest, 11 
American man-of-war, 82 
American visitors, 87 
American yachts, 93 
Anchorages, 20, 30, 33, 61, 62 
Anchors, 40 

Antigua, 15, 18, 19, 53, 58 
Aristocracy, 89, 93 
Asia, 91 
Athens, 77 

Automobile, 32, 33, 34, 44 
Awning, 40 

B 

Bahama Bank (Great), 60, 

61,67 
Bahamas (the), 10, 14, 53, 

59 
Barbados, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 

19, 41, 53, 54, 55, 56 



Barbarous times, 91 

Basse Terre, 32, 44 

Bathing, 34 

Beaches, 20 

Benevolent assimilation, 87 

Bernini, 61, 62, 63 

Bermuda, 10, 14, 16, 17, 19, 

43, 53, 54 
Birds, 43 
Boiling lake, 32 
Books, 10, 14, 97 
Boom, 39 

Botanical gardens, 42 
Bottom, 33 
Bowsprit, 39 
Breen's "St. Lucia," 31 
Buffaloes, 73 
Buoy, 33, 40 
Buzzard, 62 

C 
Caesar, 93 
Calm days, 12 
Canals, 15, 30, 63, 64, 83 
Capitalists, 93 
Card-table, 45 
Cariacou, 18, 29 
Caribbean Sea, 9, 11, 12, 15, 

20, 41, 68, 74 



117 



Carib Islands, 9 

Caribs, 32 

Carriages, 23, 32 

Castries, 29, 48 

Cat-boat, 54 

Cat Cay, 61 

Cat Island, 18, 62 

Chairs, 45, 46 

Channel (Northwest), 61 

Charitable efforts, 42 

Charles II, 50 

Charleston, 17, 18, 19, 35 

Charts, 14 

Chateau Belair, 29 

Chesapeake Bay, 6s 

Cheshire hunt, 73 

Chickens, 42 

Christiansted, 33 

Chronicles (naval), 31 

Cinques Portes, 83 

Cities, 90 

Clarence (Duke of), 33 

Cliffs, 20 

Climate, 20 

Closer relations, 87 

Clubs, 5, 12, 21, 22, 23, 34, 

55, 62, 67, 69, 74, 83 
Clytie, 10, 45, 53, 68 
Coaching, 73 
Coal, 29, 30, 45, 48, 50 
Coast, 83 
Colloredo-Mansfeldt (Count), 

62 
Colonial problems, 11, 21 



Colonial system, 11 
Color (of water), 17, 59 
Columbus, 62 
Committee, 5 
Commonwealth, 93 
Companies (S. S.), I5 
Conditions, 11, 12, 46 
Congress (powers of), 88, 91 
Consistency, 92 
Constitution, 88, 90, 91 
Consul, 32 
Contracts, 93 
Coral bay, 34 
Coral heads, 17, 40, 59 
Coral shelf, 60 
Corinthian races, 68 
Coton House, 74 
Cottesbrook, 74 
Coudert (Frederic), 70 
Countries, 92 
Country houses, 74 
Cowes Castle, 81 
Cowes week, 81 
"Criminal aggression," 92 
Crooked Island, 18 
Crown lands, 11, 55 
Cruise, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 

17, 20, 22, 27, 39, 74 
Cruise of Sea Fox, 7, 17 
Cruising, 12, 20, 69 
Crusoe (Robinson), 16, 28 
Cuba, 12, 14, 18, 19, 48, 69 
Culebra, 18 
Current, 16, 17, 40, 41 



118 



D 

Daily news reports, 22 
Damages, 71 
Danger, 89 
Danish Islands, 48 
Darwin (Charles), 71 
Day, 14, IS, 16, 27 
Deck chairs, 45 
De Grasse, 28 
Delaware River, 63 
Delays, 35 
Democratic, 89 
Despotism, 89 

Development of yachting, 83 
Diabloten (Mt.), 32 
Diamond Rock, 31 
Dingley Hall, 74 
Disaster, 9, 21 
Doldrums, 54 
Dominica, 18, 32, 46 
Dragomen, 77 
Dreadnaught, 68 
Dredging, 64 
Dry- dock, 15 
Dudley (Governor Thomas), 

56, 63 
Dudley, Samuel, 56 
Dugouts, 13 
Duties, 88 



Edward VII, 50, 81 
Eleuthera, 18, 59 
Empire, 91 



England, 20 
English Islands, 47, 48 
English politics, 49 
English Virgin Islands, 48 
English waters, 10, 79 
English yachts, 77, 83 
Enterprise, 82 
Equality, 88 
Equities, 93 
Eruption, 31 
Eves (G. W.), 50 
Excises, 88 
Excursions, 20 
Exercise, 20, 21 
Expansion, 91, 92 
Experience, 10 
Exploits, 89 
Export tax, 30 
Exuma Island, 18 
Exuma Sound, 59, 62 



Factories, 11 
Farmers, 42 
Farms, 43 
Fathers, 91 
Fernandina, 18, 35, 6$ 
Fernie hunt, 7$ 
Fish, 42 

Florida, 14, 18, 19 
Florida Straits, 60 
Flying fish, 13 
Food, 21 



119 



Forcible annexation, 91 

Ford (Paul Leicester), 57 

Fort de France, 28, 31 

Fortifications, 29 

Fort Royal, 31 

Forts, 34 

Fountain of Youth, 63 

Fowl, 42 

Fox hunting, 73 

France, 27, 47 

Fredericksted, 33 

Free trade, 47 

Fruit, 22, 29, 42, 43 

Future of Islands, 20, 87 



Gardens, 42 
German Emperor, 81 
German officers, 81 
Glaucon, 78, 89 
Goodwood, 82 
Government, 87, 90 
Government houses, 21, 29, 

30 
Grande Etang, 29 
Grande Terre, 18, 32 
Grant (General Frederick), 

69 
Great Bahama Bank, 60, 61, 

67 
Grecian waters, 20, 77 
Greece, 10, 77 
Grenada, 13, 16, 18, 28, 29 
Grenadines (The), 29 
Guadeloupe, 18, 32, 33, 47 



Guantanamo, 69 
Gun Cay, 60, 61 

H 

Hamilton, 53 

Hamilton (Alexander), 33 

Hampton Roads, 63 

Harbor Island, 59 

Harbors, 12, 15, 20, 28, 30, 32, 

34, 39, 50, 55 
Hauling, 15, 55 ^ 
Havana, 19 
Hayti, 14, 18, 19 
Henn (Commander), 62 
Hispaniola, 63 
History, 89 
Holland, 27 
Horace, 23 
Horses, 22, 29, 30 
Hospitality, 21, 53 
Hotel, 33 
Hothorpe, 74 
Hot Springs, 32 
House of Representatives, 90 
Ho3rt (Colgate), 71 
Hunt, 73 
Hunting, 73, 74 
Hurricanes, 12, 67, 68 



Ice, 21, 41 
Ice-plant, 21, 22 
Ide (ex-Chief Justice of Sa- 
moa), 70 
Imperial methods, 91 



120 



Imports, 88 

Inagua, i8 

Inferior races, 87 

Inhabitants, 11, 87 

Institute (Royal Colonial), 50 

Intercourse, 9, 11 

International yacht race, 62 

Island problems, 87 

Islands, 11, 12, 13, 16, 18, 20, 

27, 34, 48, 49, 59, 62, ^2>, 87, 

91, 92 
Isthmian canal, 83 
Itinerary, 19, 27 



Jamaica, 14, 19 

James (Daniel), 81 

Jardin des Plantes, 31 

Josephine, 31 

Journal (Washington's), 56 

Judges, 90 

Jury, 71, 90 

K 

Kane (Commodore Nichol- 
son), 'jz 
Kilworth, 74 
Kingstown, 28, 29 



Labor, 11 
Laborers, 30, 48 
Laffan (Sir Patrick Leo- 
pold), 53 



Lamp, 45 

Lancashire Witch, 81 

Land ownership, 11 

Lands, 11 

Launch, 20, 30, 32 

Laws, 90 

Leeward Islands, il, 12, 16, 

48, 49 
Legislatures, 90 
Leicestershire, 74 
Les Saints, 18, 28 
Liberty, 88 
Light-ship, 69 
List of books, 97, 98 
Local affairs, 88 
Long Island, 18 
Lubenham, 74 

M 

McClintock, 53 
Mails, 22 

Maintenon (Mme. de), 31 
Man-o'-war Bay, 28 
Marie Galante, 32 
Marine railway, 15 
Market gardens, 42 
Market produce, ZZ 
Martinique, 9, 18, 28, 31, 47, 

70 
Massachusetts, 55 
Matanzas, 19 
Mayors, 90 
Measurement, 17, 60 
Meat, 42 



121 



Mediterranean, "jj 
Melons, 43 

Men-of-war, 21, 31, 48, 82 
Mermaid, 10, 60, 62, d'^ 
Messes, 21, 54 
Miami, 60, 61 
Monkeys, 70 
Monopolists, 92 
Mont Diabloten, 32 
Months, 13, 14, 67, ^T, 78 
Mont Pelee, 31 
Montserrat, 18, 33, 42, 43 
Moorings, 40 
Morne Rouge, 31 
Mosquitos, 30 
Motto, 23 
Mountain, 21 

N 

Naphtha, 32, 44 
Nassau, 18, 19, 43, 59, 61, 62 
Naval chronicles, 31 
Naval station, 28 
Navigation, 13 
Navy, 22 

Navy department publica- 
tions, 13, 42, 68 
Navy reserve, 21 
Negro question, 11 
Nelson (Admiral), 33 
Nereid, 72 
Neuralgia, 21 
Nevis, 18, 33 
Newfoundland, 47 
New London, 73 



News report, 22 

New States, 88 

New Testament, 90 

New York, 14, 19 

New York Yacht Club, 5, 12, 

22, 67, 74 
Norman (Sir Henry), 49 
Northamptonshire, 74 
Northers, 60 

North Warwickshire hunt, T^ 
Northwest Channiel, 61 



Ocean cruising, 39, 93 
Ocracoke Inlet, 63 
O'Donohue, 70 
Old yachtsmen, 20, 21 
Oligarchy, 89 
Olive trees, yy 
Optimates, 93 
Oranges, 29 
Orinoco, 13 
Outside work, 14 



Pacific coast, 83 

Palms, 20 

Paris (S. S.), 69, 70 

Parkman (Francis), dz 

Parrot, 70 

Parsons (John E.), 70 

Patrician, 93 

"Paul et Virginie," 31 

Pelee (Mont), 31 

Perth Amboy, 63 



122 



Pilot, 34 

Piraeus, 78 

Plan of cruise, 11, 12, 13, 15, 

20, 22, 39 
Plantations, 30, 34, 55, 56 
Plato's Republic, 89 
Plebeians, 93 
Plebs, 93 

Plymouth Harbor, 28 
Pointe a Pitre, 32, 44 
Policemen, 90 
Politicians, 92 
Ponce, 34 
Ponce de Leon, 63 
Populares, 93 
Population, 54 
Porter's plantation, 56 
Port of Spain, 17, 28 
Porto Rico, 9, 13, 14, 18, 19, 

34, 48 
Ports, 27, 34 
Portsmouth, 32 
Port Soufriere, 30 
Powell (Captain), 55 
Powers of Congress, 88 
Prating, 89 
President, 90 
Prince of Wales, 82 
Problems, 11 
Publications, 68 
Pytchley hunt, 73 

Q 

Qualifications (for electors), 
88 



Quarantine, 46 
Queen's cup, 82 
Quorn hunt, yz 



Races, 62, 68 

Raritan Canal, 63 

Real yachting, 22 

Reefs, 17 

Relations, 87 

Reminiscences, 20, 67 

Reports, 7, 22 

Republic, 88, 89, 93 

Revolution (the), 58 

Rhode Island, 88 

Rights, 90, 92 

Riviere Salee, 32 

Roads, 20, 32, 47, 48 

Roadstead, 34, 55 

Rodney (Admiral), 28, 46 

Rome, 92, 93 

Royal Charter, 68 

Royal Colonial Institute, 50 

Royal Squadron, 81 

Royal Thames Yacht Club, 83 

Rum, 42, 57, 58 

Rum Island, 18 



Saba, 18, 27, 33, 42 
Sabbath, 90 
Safety, 92 

Sailing (winter), 9, 11, 17, 
20, 60 



123 



Sailing machine, 93 

Sailors, 41 

Sails, 39 

St. Croix, 16, 17, 18, 33, 43 

St. Eustatius, 18, 27, 33, 42 

St. George, 28 

St. George's, 53, 54 

St. George Society, 70 

St. John, 18 

St. Kitts, 18, 27, 33, 42 

St. Lucia, 18, 21, 29, 30, 31, 55 

St. Martin, 27 

St. Patrick's Day, 70 

St. Pierre, 28, 31, 32 

St. Thomas, 14, i5, 16, 18, 19, 

27, 34, 35, 41, 54 
St. Vincent, 9, 18, 21, 28, 29 
Samuels (Captain), 68 
San Juan, 18, 19, 34, 35, 4i, 

44, 69 
San Salvador, 62 
Santa Cruz, 33 
Scarborough, 28 
Scenery, 10, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33* 

53, 59 
Scotland Light-ship, 69 
Screw dock, 55 
Sea cruising, 39, 93 
Sea Fox, 7, 9, I7 
Sea Fox (cruise of), 7, 17 
Seal of New York Yacht 

Club, 23 
Sea power, 50 
Seat in Senate, 93 
Seawanhaka Yacht Club, 69 

I 



Secretary of New York 

Yacht Club, 67 
Security, 92 
Self-government, 58 
Senate, 90, 93 
Sewers, 29 
Shelter Island, 73 
Sherman (John), 69 
Shoals, 40 

Sixty days' cruise, 15, 16, 27 
Six weeks' cruise, 16 
Slip line, 33 

Smith (Charles Stewart), 72 
Society, 55, 70 
Socrates, 78, 89 
Soil, 34, 47 
Sounds, 63 
South America, 28 
Spanish Wells, 59 
Spars, 39 

Sports, 67, 73, 74, 89 
Squadron cruise, 5, 7, 9, 22, 

74 
Squalls, 39 
Stanford Hall, 74 
Stapleton (Sir William), 50 
States, 88, 92, 93 
Steamers, 15, 16, 69 
Steamship companies, 15 
Steam yachts, 12, 78 
Stetson (Francis L.), 70 
Stewards, 43 
Stokes (Colonel), 53 
Suffrage, 88 
Sugar, 29, 30, 33, 34, 55 



24 



Sugar factories, ii, 32 Troops, 54, 55 

Sugar question, 11, 49 Turtle, 43 

Sulphur works, 30 

Summer cruise, 74 

Sumptuary laws, 90 

Supper, 70 

Supplies, 41, TJ 

Swamps, 30 

Systems of labor, 11 



Taormina, 62 

Tariff question, 11 

Tax, 30 

Telegrams, 22 

Telephone, 29, 30 

Territories, 88, 92 

Thornton, 74 

Timocratic, 89 

Tobago, 14, 16, 17, 28 

Tongue of the Ocean, 60, 61 

Top-masts, 39 

Tourist, 10 

Tourist steamers, 23, 69 

Towing through canals, 64 

Trade, 47 

Trade winds, 12, 20, 40, 54, 

59 
Traitor, 89 

Treaty of Versailles, 46 
Trees, 77 
Trinidad, 9, 12, 14, 16, 17, 21, 

28, 41, 43, 49 

125 



U 
United States, 9, 11, 14, 34, 

47, 49, 87 
Usurpation, 90, 92 

V 

Vaccination, 46 
Vale of Tempe, 29 
Vegetables, 22, 33, 42, 43 
Venison, 43 
Veto power, 90 
Vice-commodore, 12 
Vigors (Colonel), 53 
Virginia, 55, 56, 57 
Virgin Islands, 11, 13, 16, 27, 
34 

W 
Wages, 48 
War, 89 

"War power," 88 
Washington, 56, 69 
Washington's journal, 56 
Water, 17, 41, 59 
Waterfall, 33 
Watering place, 33 
Watlings Island, 18, 62 
West Indian cruise, 9, 10 
West Indies, 5, 12, 22, 23, 67, 

69, 97 
William IV, 33 



Winds, 12, 17, 20, 34, 39, 40, 

53 
Windward Islands, 11, 12, 16, 

48, 49 
Windward work, 15, 16 
Winter cruising, 20 
Winter yachting, 11 
Winthrop (Henry), 55 
Winthrop (John), 55, 56 
Winthrop (John, Jr.), 55 
Winthrop (Mary), 56 
Winthrop (Samuel), 55 
Wisdom of our Fathers, 87 
Woman laborers, 48 



Woodbridge (Dudley), 56 
Woodbridge estate, 55 
Woodbridge, John, 56 
World, 88 



Yachting, 11, 22, dy, 73, 74, 83 
Yacht race (international), 

62 
Yachts, 9, ID, 12, 7T, 78, 83, 93 
Yachtsmen, 21, 68 
Yawls, 83 
Young yachtsmen, 21, 68 



126 



iO\''^ 



r902 



iiiirKjiiiiiiiiiaiiiniia aii 



VEST INDIES, 

pyrigh't,1897, by The Century Cb., New York. 
Countries: @ Capitals of Colonies: ® Forts:? 
; -..„.. Submarine Telegraph Lines: — - ■ ■ ■• Lights' 
6ns- in. English Feet? 4.868 Depths in EnglisllFeet; C,ob( 
lumbus.: Eirst'-o-t>-»,Seco.nd-»-*-»-'Third.-+-+-i'burth- 



Scale, 130 English_Statute Miles to One Inch. 

'100 aoo 



100 



200 



Kilometers. 



iOO 



015 840 787 5 



